Today, many types of audio and video entertainment are available through a personal computer (PC). For example, many personal computers now include a compact disc (CD) drive. The CD drive can be used to load programming from a CD to the computer, but can also be used to play audio CD's through the computer's audio system or to access multimedia programming on a CD-ROM. Similarly, some personal computers now include a digital video disc (DVD) player so that movies recorded on a DVD can be watched on the computer.
Additionally, if the computer is connected to the Internet, a wealth of audiovisual material for both entertainment and education can be downloaded and experienced using the computer. For example, some radio stations “broadcast” over the Internet by allowing listeners to access an audio data stream from the radio station's web-site which is received and played by that listener's computer. Files of audio data, particularly in the MP3 format, can be downloaded from the Internet, stored on a personal computer and then played by the computer whenever desired by the user.
The term “MP3” is short for Motion Picture Expert Group (MPEG) Layer 3 and is an audio compression standard that allows high quality audio to be stored in a reasonably small data file. The compression ratios limit the audio quality, but with MP3, a 128 Kilobits/second data stream will deliver near CD quality audio in stereo.
In addition to these sources of audio data, the Internet can also provide streaming audiovisual data such as music videos, news reports, etc. As the bandwidth of the Internet continues to evolve, more audiovisual programming will likely be available over the Internet.
While there is such a great wealth of audiovisual content available from the Internet, accessing this material typically requires the user to use and be located at his or her personal computer. This may be both uncomfortable and inconvenient. For example, a user may want to be in another room or part of the house in order to perform a task while listening to music that is resident on his or her computer or being received by the computer over the Internet. However, the user will have to stay near the computer to hear the audio being played.
Similarly, the user may wish to recline on a sofa or comfortable chair while watching an audiovisual program that has been downloaded from the Internet to the user's computer or is streaming from the Internet over a connection to the user's computer. However, unlike television sets, computers are not typically arranged in front of a sofa or the like. Rather, a computer is typically set-up on a desk or table with an appropriate chair that accommodates use of the computer's mouse and keyboard, but is not intended for relaxing while enjoying an audiovisual entertainment program.
Consequently, there is a need in the art for a method and system that allow a user to receive audio or audiovisual programming from the Internet with a personal computer, but which also allows the user to access and enjoy the received programming throughout the user's house at a location that is most convenient and comfortable for the user to do so.